Widower
by thorn garmadon
Summary: It's been three months since Kylo Ren was killed in action, his death confirmed by the Supreme Leader himself, and for one of those months Hux has been captured by the Resistance. What Leia knows, however, is that her son is not dead, and Snoke lied to his best General, though for what reason, she's unsure.
1. Chapter 1

Bubba: heeey so here's my Angst Fic lmao. warnings for grieving/suicidal ideation throughout the whole fic. this fic was a present to myself haha i finished it on my birthday last month. :^)

* * *

 **Part 1**

They called him the Starkiller and expected him to be a ravenous beast, but instead all they got was a broken man who sat in the corner and acted catatonic. Whenever they'd take him for interrogation he'd just sit or lay there and wouldn't say a word, would take the torture they dealt on him, the hits, the stinging words. Once they tossed him back into his cell he'd crawl back to his corner, hug his knees to his chest, bury his face in them, and start shaking. Within minutes he'd be still as the dead once more.

No one could explain it, nor understand why the feared General Hux was hardly anything more than shell. Even Finn had been confused, this wasn't the proud and perfect General he'd worked under, but looking at him proved it definitely was. When Rey had attempted to slip into his head to try and see what was wrong, she'd pulled out and nearly collapsed at the sheer volume of his thoughts, incoherent screaming, a mantra of death shrieks in his head.

It had been a month before Leia finally decided she'd go and deal with their guest herself. She'd brought herself to his cell and placed three guards outside of it. Now she was facing their prisoner for the first time, and she realized all the stories from the guards were true. Hux hadn't even moved since she entered and stood just four feet in front of him. He'd kept his position, curled up in that corner, and just stayed still. Leia wondered what he'd been through to leave him like this. They hadn't tortured him to the breaking point, there were no signs of anyone breaking his mind, he'd done this to himself. No one knew why.

"General Armitage 'Starkiller' Hux, I've heard a lot about you. Will you speak to me?" The redhead didn't make any sign that he'd even heard. Leia decided that she would continue talking. "What would you like me to call you? Armitage? No, that name doesn't fit you, despite your situation now. General? You're not in any position now, and the First Order is well on its way to destruction. I'll just call you Hux then." She'd heard Finn refer to him as Hux whenever he spoke, so that seemed suitable. "You're very resilient, I'll give you that. Not a single word out of you no matter what we've done. You're only prolonging the inevitable, though. Once you talk we'll put you on trial for your war crimes and have you executed."

Hux raised his head slightly. Leia could just barely see his cold blue-green eyes. He hissed, voice raspy from not being used, "I don't see why you should waste your resources on me. Just kill me already, so I can..." He trailed off, curling up even more tightly than before.

"So you can what?" She questioned. "So you can be put out of your misery?"

"So I can go to that idiotic afterlife you sorcerers are always raving about. If there's really one then I'll be able to see someone you vile Resistance scum took away from me again."

That would certainly explain the state he was in, it was grief. The Resistance had been earning lots of victories the past year, many First Order members were dying. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, then. Who was it?"

Hux shot her a glare, loosening up a bit. "You know who it was! You heartless woman, killing your own son! You killed Kylo Ren, I saw it! One of the only two beings I've cared about and your fighters _slaughtered him_!"

Oh. Leia kept her calm expression. "What was your relationship with him?"

"I'm his kriffing widower, figure that out." Hux snapped. He looked away. Leia was surprised at that.

She hid her shock. "You said... you saw him die?"

"The Supreme Leader recovered footage caught during the battle! Ren was fighting and a group ambushed him from behind. They..." He swallowed, the holo probably replaying in his head, "They shot him five times in the back, and when he was on the ground one came and shot him in the head before they dragged off his body. Leader Snoke confirmed that he couldn't use his magic to sense Ren anymore and that his 'life force' had gone out." He paused."You know this! Leave me be, I won't be a source of pity for you," he snarled.

She _did_ know that. But she also knew that the Supreme Leader had lied. The footage must have been altered, or perhaps was taken from too far away, because then the truth would have been obvious. Her fighters hadn't killed Ren, that would have gone against her orders, they had just captured him. Sure, they had shot him, but not to kill, the shots were stun bolts, and the last shot had been a weak one.

Why would the Supreme Leader lie about his apprentice's death? It was clearly aimed to weaken the General, but why weaken the person at the top? Or had it been expected to make the General stronger, more intent on destroying the Resistance? She didn't know. Both options were equally as likely, and she wasn't sure how Snoke thought.

Well, at least it would make things more interesting when she went to speak with her son again.

"As you wish, Hux, I'll be stopping by within the next few days." She turned and left. Leia decided that she may as well go and speak to her son now. She still had plenty of time before she was expected back at her normal post.


	2. Chapter 2

Bubba: here's the 2nd chapter  
 _Italics is a flashback_  
 _'Italics in quotes is a thought'_

* * *

 **Part 2**

Leia stopped in front of the door to her son's cell. She had a million questions to ask him but she needed to choose just one. She settled on one that would startle him the most, not even a question but close enough to one where it would work and he would hopefully start rambling out of shock. Opening the door, she looked inside to see that he was sitting on his bunk, eyes trained on her as she stepped in, staying at the doorway. He looked curious, and Leia knew that if the room wasn't cutting him off from the force, he would be tearing through her mind to see why she was there.

"Hello, Organa." Even after almost three months, he still refused to call her mother. She'd given up on calling him Ben as well, just wanting him to actually respond when she spoke to him. "Do you need something?"

She smirked, "You never told me you were married, Kylo."

He stood up instantly, more shocked than she expected him to be. "H-how did you- how do you know that?!" He took a step forward, the chains on his cuffs still slack. "How did you find out?!"

"Your _husband_ told us."

"Hux? Is he here?" He looked past her, trying to sense wherever the other man was. He clearly looked frustrated that he couldn't, having momentarily forgotten he could not access his powers. "Where is he? Did he come to take me back?"

"Actually, no."

Kylo huffed, "He still hates me then. Probably glad I'm gone, means less reports to file." He crossed his arms. "Did he pay you to keep me or something? Or offer, at least? He always said he'd do that." Leia couldn't understand how anyone could be married if one threatened to pay someone to keep away the other. That was usually what called for a break-up or divorce. And possibly a restraining order.

She shook her head. "He's been our prisoner for a month, now. I only just spoke with him earlier, and he told me." Kylo froze. "Apparently your Supreme Leader told him that you were dead, showed him a holo of your capture that was most likely manipulated to show my men killing you, and informed him that your life force had gone out."

Her son's eyes widened at that. His voice dropped low, "He thinks I'm dead?"

"Yes, very much so. He's nearly catatonic with grief."

He was silent for a moment, biting his lip. Then, "Let me see him." She shook her head. There was no way she could allow Kylo nor Hux to leave their cells, except for Hux's interrogations, much less occupy the same one, even for a short amount of time. "Please! He's suffering!"

"The man who wiped out a planetary system is suffering."

"He's not good at handling emotions! Tell him I'm not dead!" He tried to approach her, but was stopped three feet by the length of the chain. Up close, she could see his eyes were wet.

"I won't. It's an advantage. He'll break soon, and we'll get the information we need. Then we'll execute him, like he wants."

"No! No, you have to tell him!" He pulled against his restraints. "You lost Solo, you know what kind of pain he's in-"

"How dare you compare us? I had three decades and a child with Han. You had next to nothing in comparison to that. A few years of spiteful dating, a marriage that only gave an official title to a relationship that was nothing but mutual satisfaction? A means to an end?"

"You know _nothing_ of what we had! _Let me see him!_ "

She shook her head again. "It's easy enough to guess. I'm afraid neither of you can leave your cells, for any amount of time, and only him for interrogation." Having had enough of this, she stepped out of the room and closed the door. Locking it, she sighed. He was still screaming, begging to be let out. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to talk to him after all. Speaking to her son always made her feel worse.

.-

They tortured him again. It wasn't physical except for the continued throb where they'd yanked his hair, and was nothing he couldn't handle, just having his head dunked in water repeatedly. Hux had always known that for all the Resistance crowed about being good and nothing like the enemy, they were just as bad as those they fought against. Perhaps worse, since they didn't have a force user to quickly pull things out of the mind, and had to do things the old fashioned way.

' _The First Order doesn't have a force user anymore,_ ' Hux thought as he slipped down to the floor in his cell. _Those Resistance fighters took care of that._ He hugged his knees to his chest. Making himself smaller in the cell gave him a weak reassurance that at least for the short reprieve between interrogations, he was okay.

Until he convinced himself he wasn't okay, and started thinking about the end.

' _I can do this for Ren. They'll get sick of me and kill me soon, and Ren will be so, so proud of me. He'll be so proud that I lasted for so long, and he'll be waiting for me in that afterlife he told me about. He'll hug me and it'll be just us, and I'll tell him how much I miss- I missed him. Then he'll say something about always watching over me, and we'll both be happy forever after I scold him for dying like an idiot and leaving me in a Resistance cell. I'll punch his force ghost body for good measure, and he'll laugh at me if I cry at all._ '

It was pitiful, to him, but he hoped the Resistance would just finish him off already. His only hope left was seeing Kylo in the weird force limbo he'd mentioned a few times. No one would be able to rescue him, and he'd given up on any thought of the First Order winning, so dying was all he had.

.-

 _"General, I have... bad news about the last mission." Snoke had looked indifferent, exactly as he always did, although his voice seemed just a touch sadder._

 _"Yes, Supreme Leader?"_

 _"We've recovered footage from a security holocamera on the battlefield. Of Kylo Ren." A feeling of dread washed over Hux. They hadn't been able to make contact with the Knight after the battle, and he had yet to return. A smaller hologram appeared in front of Snoke's large one, and Hux could see Ren on it._

 _He was fighting, as bravely and valiantly as ever. Deflecting blaster bolts and slicing through enemies. Yet as he paused to look around, having defeated all nearby foes, a shot rang out and a bolt hit him square in the back._

 _Hux felt like he'd been shot too._

 _Four more shots followed, and Ren had fallen to the ground despite trying to spin around and fight back. As he laid on the ground, he didn't move, his lightsaber flickering next to him. A group of fighters ran up to him, two prodding him with their feet like he was some sort of animal. One, who must have been the leader, shot Ren in the head. Then they hauled him up like a prize corpse, dragging him half on the ground, out of sight. Another grabbed his weapon and clipped it to their belt. It looked like they were laughing._

 _As the hologram froze, Hux felt like he was going to throw up, but willed himself to stay still in front of Snoke. His hands, however, betrayed him by shaking._

 _"My apprentice was a casualty of the battle, as you just saw. Although I wish it were not true, I can no longer sense him. I felt his last moments, before his strong presence, his life force, vanished. Kylo Ren is dead."_

 _The trembling moved up to his arms. His throat and eyes burned._

 _"I know that you were very close to my apprentice, I can feel your grief now. Under normal circumstances, I would grant you a generous amount of grievance leave, but unfortunately we are in a precarious moment in the war and you cannot leave your post. You can take the rest of the cycle for yourself, to... try and adjust to what the Resistance has taken from you."_

 _He nodded, not trusting his voice._

 _"My apprentice would not want you to let this hold you back. Harness your grief to avenge him, become stronger."_

 _How could he become stronger when he felt like he was going to break?_

 _"He would do the same for you."_

 _Ren would have immediately gone to slaughter the fighters that killed him, then the rest of the Resistance too. But he- he wasn't Ren, he didn't have that kind of power, he- He wanted to cry. Ren would have cried to, he thought numbly, but he would have done so while taking out his lightsaber and going to his shuttle to find whoever would have killed Hux. He couldn't do that. Right now-_

 _The hologram of Snoke vanished, leaving him alone in an empty conference room._

 _Right now he wanted to go back to his quarters, find something to hold onto, and beg for it all to be a dream._


	3. Chapter 3

Bubba: aaand here's the last chapter thanks for reading y'all  
Check out more of my fics on AO3 BubbaKnowlton or on Tumblr OblioKnowlton

* * *

 **Part 3**

Of course it would come to this, Hux realized, as pain exploded in his chest and he fell to the ground. Not a proper execution, just a self-proclaimed freedom fighter getting revenge. Justice being served to General Starkiller, to be shot in an empty hallway being led to an interrogation that wasn't to be. Killed like a lowlife in an alleyway, where nothing mattered except for in the moment.

As darkness engulfed his vision, he thought, ' _It's time to see Ren again._ '

.-

Leia was livid, but she understood _why_ one of her people would go against her orders like that. Their family, her wife and children, had been on Hosnian Prime when it was destroyed, and she wanted retribution for her loved ones, closure. Eliminating the one who had ordered the shooting, broadcasted to the galaxy, seemed like a sure way to succeed. Now they were using precious few medical supplies to keep an enemy alive. They should have been using them for their own people, what little amounts they had, not for a war prisoner. A droid was monitoring Hux, one that was supposed to be in the medbay, caring for those that mattered. He needed a steady line of anesthetics and bacta patches that were getting harder to come by.

After scolding the young woman who shot the General, she looked into the room said officer was being kept in. A private medical room.

Hux looked peaceful, more so than she'd ever seen in his month there -although she'd only seen him the once two days ago, than any holograms he'd given speeches through. To see his face without any trace of anger or despair was unsettling. Everything about him was relaxed. His sneer, which she'd overheard Finn say was 'permanent', was gone. The stiffness he'd kept the past month had dissolved. The droid had had to cut off his uniform shirt, bloodied and dirtied as it was, revealing pale skin that had likely never seen natural light, a spacer. He was thin, like he'd never filled out while growing to adulthood.

What could her son see in a man like this?

He was somewhat attractive, she supposed. Clean cut and unique. Red hair wasn't common, and it went well with how pale he was. Physical attraction, she could see. They were both of the same rank, were the only options for each other, and were easy on the eyes.

Yet clearly, according to her son's outburst, it was more emotion based. She didn't believe that. Hux was a military child, born and raised a soldier. He was cruel, manipulative, ambitious. Her son was all passion and feelings; Hux was another building block of an order where such things were weaknesses, drilled out of them in their Academies. She'd heard opposites attract, she and Han had been proof of that, but not at these extremes.

Was it possession? A feeling of mutual ownership mistaken for love? That seemed far more likely. A firm root to the dark side, Hux was something her son could direct his emotions onto and draw them from. The dark side thrived on passion, jealously. To feel as if he owned Hux would make her son stronger in the force. Likewise for Hux, her son could have been another prize gained, a means to power, a way to keep himself in the Leader's favor.

Although the way Hux was grieving suggested he'd gotten attached.

.-

"Come on, come on..." Kylo smashed his cuffs against the edge of his bed again. They were so close to breaking off, he'd been going at it for far too long to bother keeping track. Once he broke them he'd be able to escape the room and get his access to the force back and escape this awful base.

With Hux, of course.

He had it all planned, he'd spent the past three days thinking of it. Once he broke the cuffs, he'd shove the door open, and attack and kill the guards. Then he'd use the force to sense where Hux was, and go get him. Presumably he'd also be in a cell, or an interrogation room, so he'd kill the guards around him. They'd have a quick reunion, where he imagined Hux would just be shellshocked. He'd kiss him, grab his arm, and then they'd run. If Hux was unable to run, they could sneak out, or if he was injured from interrogation, he would carry him even if he protested. Then they would leave the base, steal a ship, and blast off to the nearest First Order territory. Alone, they would have a proper reunion, and he looked forward to being able to be close to his husband again. Finally, they would return to the _Finalizer_ , or the nearest Star Destroyer if the _Finalizer_ was unavailable, and go back to their stations.

One of the cuffs finally broke, and he quickly pried it off. Then he snapped the other one, filled with a rush of energy, and made his escape. The door was easy to force open, by jamming it with his shoulder. It was flimsy, obviously they had thought cuffs and no force powers were enough. Even though they had been, for three months. He just need the inspiration to escape. Rescuing his husband who thought he was dead was all the motivation he needed. He couldn't wait to see the look on Hux's face when he burst into whatever room he was in.

Killing his two guards was simple now that he had his powers back. He choked the both of them before they could draw their blasters or shout out and then dropped them to the floor. He looked down the three hallways around him, and once sure that no one was coming, he held out his hand and searched through the force for Hux. He was farther than he thought he would be, and his presence felt weak.

No matter, now that he had his powers he'd be able to make it to Hux easily. He'd just kill anyone that spotted him before they could sound an alarm or call for help.

.-

He missed one person as he neared where Hux was, and it was a huge mistake. He heard a 'General Organa, Ren has escaped!' and knew he was done for. If his mother found him- she would probably call for the scavenger. He didn't have his lightsaber, she might best him again.

Physically snapping the young officer's neck and crushing his commlink made him feel a bit better, but anxiety filled him. He'd have to grab Hux and get them out, _fast_. Dropping the body, he ran towards Hux's force signature.

It led it to the medbay. He heard footsteps coming, and darted in. A medic cried out, but he ignored them and headed to the room Hux was in. He locked the door behind him, and moved an unused machine in front of it. Within moments there was pounding on the door, a gruff voice yelling for him to come out.

"Hux, I'm here to-" Kylo spun around, only for words to fail him. "-save... oh." Shock at seeing the redhead lying still on a sickbay bed turned to panic. Going to Hux's side, he quickly assessed him to see what was wrong. Unconscious, with a heavily bandaged injury on his chest. Most likely a blastershot wound, recent, too.

He wouldn't be able to break them out like this, Hux needing medical care he couldn't provide. Unless- he just needed to gather supplies, that was it. Grab enough bacta and painkillers to last them long enough to get someplace where there was more. Then he could steal what they needed and continue until they reached one of the Order's ships. Perfect, he thought to himself, the plan was fixed. Giving Hux's hand a quick squeeze, he moved on to pulling out the IV lines in the General's arm. Once finished, he searched the room for what they'd need.

There was surprisingly little, only two large patches, and a small bottle of mild painkillers. Hux could tolerate pain, and Kylo believed that if he couldn't, he could use the force to distract from or null the pain. He stuffed the supplies into his robes, and then turned back to Hux.

The redhead was stirring, and opened his eyes a bit.

.-

The first thing Hux noticed was that the blurry figure of Kylo Ren was standing over him. It was too vague to make out the man's facial expression. Everything felt numb and heavy, and trying to lift his arm up was a failure. He tried to say Kylo's name, but his mouth wasn't working correctly. Was this the afterlife? It had to be. Kylo wouldn't be standing over him if he wasn't dead.

"- _Hux! Get up!_ "

Everything started fading to black, much to his dismay, and then he was unconscious.

.-

"Kriff, Hux! Wake up!" Hux closed his eyes again. Kylo scowled. That was something he should have expected, Hux had medication running through his system, he'd be out for a while.

There was nothing else to do but get to a hanger, hijack a ship, and get off of the planet. So Kylo lifted up Hux, one arm under his knees, the other his back. Now to get out of the base. He could sense people outside in the rest of the medbay, so that was a no. However, the medbay was tucked on the edge of the base, and Hux's room had a window in it. Pushing it out with the force, Kylo found an easy escape route.

Hopping out, Kylo could see the hanger was nearby. Convenient, as ships coming down with injured fighters would want quick and easy access to the medbay. There were ships there, though all x-wings. Beggers couldn't be choosers, even if it would mean that it would be a tight ride.

Alarms started blaring all over the base, and Kylo swore. Making sure he had Hux securely, he ran towards the hanger.

.-

The whole escape was making Kylo realize just how thankful he was that he had the force at his command. It was the little things, like sensing people nearby, and being able to jump into the cockpit of a fighter, that made him truly grateful. A blaster bolt almost nicked his shoulder as he landed not so gracefully in the pilot's seat. He'd never actually flown an x-wing before, and tried to recall how Solo had once brought him in one when he was young.

He wished he'd paid more attention. Still, he had enough vague memories to start up the ship, close the cockpit, and get it moving. As the ship moved down the hanger, he adjusted Hux so he could have more use of his arms. Fighters were flooding out of the base, so he took off as soon as he could. The second they left the atmosphere, he punched in the first Order coordinates he could think of and blasted the ship into hyperspace.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kylo let his head fall back. That had gone a lot more smoothly than he thought it would. If it weren't for the fact that he'd almost gotten hit, would've if he didn't drop down, he would have suspected that his mother was letting them go free. But this was a war and they were enemies, it wouldn't work like that in reality.

After a few minutes he noticed that x-wings _really_ were not meant for two considerably tall people. There was hardly any wiggle room. It wasn't bad with Hux, but he would never do this with anyone else. Speaking of Hux, the ginger wasn't really in the most comfortable position, his head hanging in a way that would cramp his neck. He shifted him, so he was comfortably sitting in his lap, head resting against his shoulder.

There, that was better. It was more enjoyable now. Before, Hux hardly ever was this close to him outside of sex, or when Kylo wrapped around him during the night.

.-

Hux didn't wake up by the time they made it to a Star Destroyer. It wasn't the _Finalizer_ , but it would let them on and into a medbay. He'd already used up the two bacta patches.

Beeping from the dashboard alerted him they were being contacted, and Kylo was grateful they weren't being fired at. " _Identify yourself, unknown ship._ "

"This is Kylo Ren, I have General Hux with me. He needs medical attention."

" _State your verification code._ "

He listed the long code he rarely ever had to use and hoped he didn't screw up. If he did they'd be blasted into space dust. After a long moment, a response.

" _You're cleared for landing, sir, enter Hanger 2. A medical team will be there shortly, the Lt. General will greet you._ "

.-

Kylo followed the medical team as they took away Hux, completely ignoring the Lt. General, much to the man's disapproval. He stood off to the side, relieved as medics attended to the wound and cared for it properly. The wound was cleaned, given medication to further prevent infection, and redressed. They put fresh clothes on him after cleaning him, a thin white outfit for patients, shorts and a tee. He was given a shot of painkillers, and Kylo was told he would wake up in a few hours. An officer told him he was welcome to use the showers, and they would check for training clothes that would fit him until his robes were clean.

Hux would prefer if he was freshly cleaned and in clothes that weren't pretty filthy. The Resistance had occasionally taken his clothes while letting him use a sonic, but it'd been a while since then.

So he took up on the offer when the lieutenant returned with a change of clothes. They were kind of tight, but only snug, not unbearable.

He imaged Hux would prefer that, as well, even if the redhead would never admit so out loud. He'd caught Hux staring at him when he trained before, and he openly watched when they changed in their quarters.

.-

Three hours after they arrived, Hux stirred, waking up. Kylo was at his side immediately, grabbing his hand. As Hux blinked, getting his vision into focus, Kylo bit the inside of his lip.

"R-Ren?"

"You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Ren?" Hux's voice was full of disbelief. "You-"

Oh, yeah, he thought he was dead. "I'm right here."

"Am I dead?"

"No."

"Then how- you're dead."

"No, I'm alive. I got captured by the Resistance, not killed. I'm not sure why Snoke lied to you, but I'm definitely alive and breathing."

"Y-you're dead- you-"

"Does this feel dead to you?" Kylo leaned forward to kiss him. After a few seconds he pulled back, to see Hux's eyes full of tears. "I got hit by stun bolts, and dragged to that base. Organa kept me trapped in a room where I was cut off from the force. They didn't torture me. Snoke must have been testing you, trying to make you stronger."

"I- I missed you so much, Ren... I didn't know what to do without you. I- I wanted them to kill me." The tears started to overflow.

"I'm here. I missed you too, but we're together again, alive."

* * *

After this: Kylo climbs onto the bed and they have a great reunion-snuggle together and then Snoke says 'lmao it was a test u both passed' when confronted and it's all good.


End file.
